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By Rick Millhollin (rickm@oregon.uoregon.edu)
Would you like to access your mail from almost any machine, anywhere, with no special setup beyond a web browser?
WebMail is one of several new electronic mail products that makes this possible, and it's offered to University of Oregon users who have accounts on GLADSTONE, DARKWING, and OREGON.
Although WebMail runs on a Windows NT system, it allows pass-through web access to IMAP (Internet Mail Access Protocol) mail servers on virtually any other type of machine. Because WebMail uses only HTML to communicate with the browser, it works with the widest possible variety of browsers (including the latest versions of Internet Explorer and Netscape) and is not susceptible to Java bugs and incompatibilities.
To begin using WebMail, open your web browser and go to http://webmail.uoregon.edu (regular mode) or https://webmail.uoregon.edu (secure mode; recommended).
Type in your username and password and choose the host your account is on. You should then see a screen displaying your Inbox. VMS (OREGON) users may proceed at this point, setting the "Options" as they please, but to avoid problems with their host folders, UNIX (GLADSTONE, DARKWING) users must follow these special instructions:
Special instructions for UNIX users. If you use GLADSTONE or DARKWING, you must choose Options and set the IMAP4 Folder Prefix to mail/ in order to see your host folders properly. You may want to fiddle with the other options as well. Then log out, and log back in again to activate the folder prefix.
Another minor annoyance for GLADSTONE and DARKWING users is that on UNIX hosts, Outbox is immediately created at first log-in and is then recreated under mail/ after you set the folder prefix, resulting in two "Outboxes" being listed in the mailbox list file. However, this glitch doesn't prevent the program from functioning properly.
For more information, check out its online help resource or see http://www-vms.uoregon.edu/www/webmail.html Watch system notices for additional information that may become available on WebMail as time goes on.
We're interested in hearing about your WebMail experience, either positive or negative. Direct your questions, problems, and comments to consult@oregon.uoregon.edu, or call 346-1758.